Carton



g- 5, 1952 M. BURGER 2,605,951 I CARTON Filed Aug. 24, 1946 2SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR.

Filed Aug. 24, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 g- 5, 1952 M. BURGER 2,605,951

' CARTON IN V EN TOR.

- mam 5409a: BY @WWZM W Patented Aug. 5, 1952 CARTON Martin Burger,Morris, Ill., as'signor to Shellmar Products Corporation,.Chicago, 111.,a corporation of Delaware Application August 24, 1946, Serial No.692,822

4 Claims. l 01. 229-28)- a a 1 i 'This inventionfpertains toimprovements in paperboard cartons, in particularyegg cartons madefrom aunitary blank, which is cut, scored and folded to provide the requisiteparts.

Such cartons, in particular those made from a uni'tary'blank, foldedback upon itself to form the necessary parts, require that firmengagement be had'between a terminal section of the blank and the innerside of a rear Wall to which it usually attaches. In the past the partshave generally been secured together with glue or adhesives. Under humidatmospheric conditions such as those encountered in moist climates, inrefrigeratedstorage warehouses, refrigerators, and in ice refrigerateddairy vehicles, it is'not uncommon for glued cartons secured in thisfashion to become unglued and to fall apart, with resultant damage toeggs contained therein.

Under humid, moist conditions such as those indicated above, thedifficulties encountered are occasioned most often by glue failure; buteven though the glue may hold, yet the weakness imparted to the cartonby its absorption of moisture and loss of cohesion of the fibers oftencauses the adhered parts to separate adjacent the glue point, by thetearing away of a superficial layer of fibers at that point.

It is an object of this invention to provide means whereby certain typesof paperboard cartons may be fabricated without the use of glue,adhesives or the like, providing elements formed from the blank itselfto connect and sustain the.

carton in its assembled, knocked down or set-up condition.

Other and further objects and advantages will be apparent from referenceto the "specification and accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a typical eggjcarton blank embodying theinvention; I

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation al View of a carton formed fromthe blank of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the carton body shown in Fig.2; illustrating the interlock ofcertain parts in the assembled conditionof the carton;

Fig. 4' is a fragmentary perspective view of the interior "of a cartonembodying the invention in the set-up condition of the carton;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the blank of Fig. 1 during the foldinthereof to assembled condition; Fig. 6 is an end view of the blanksubstantially as it appears in that assembled but knockeddown foldedcondition in which it is shippedto users; and v 2 Fig. 7 is an end viewof the blank of Fig. 6 as setupforuse.

The invention is illustrated as applied to a carton of the type shown inTroyk Reissue Patent No. 18,922 of August 22, 1933, which cartons havemet-withwide commercial acceptance. 'As shown in Fig. 1, the unitaryblank is died out of a onepiece sheet of paperboard of desired strengthand stiffness to provide a plurality of conjoined panels fol'dable withrespect to one another along well definedfold or score lines, thuspermitting bending'of the panels with respect to one another to form thecompleted carton.

The reference numeral I indicates a cover looking strip or panel havingthe cover locking hooks 2 formed along its free edge, said hooks, in theset-up condition of the carton, being adapted to engage certaintriangular webs or hinges l2, to

be hereinafter referred to, adjacent the upper edge of a front wall 9.Locking strip'Zis foldable with respcct to a conjoined cover panel 3valong a fold line a, and cover panel 3is foldable with respect to a rearwall'panel 4 along a fold line b. Said rear wall panel is provided witharow'of longitudinally aligned slots or cuts 5 therein, each ofpredetermined length, which are spacedaslight distance from fold line b,slots 5 being adapted to receive certain hereinafter describedjoininghooks or tongues to permitglueless assembly of the carton. I Rearwall panel 4 is joined along a foldline e to one of a pair-ofsubstantiallyidentical bottom and longitudinal partition forming panels66, mutually conjoined .along a fold lined; Panels 86 are provided' witha series of spaced parallel, transverse cuts '7 arranged in parallelrows extending longitudinally of the panels. Other transverse cuts oropenings 8 also extendin a row longitudinally of the blank, inintersection with fold line (1 and in parallel alignment with the rowsof cuts 1-1. Cuts 1-4 are adapted to' r'eceive certain latchin hooks andcuts-"8 to re ceive certain medial portions, of 'the 'hereinafterdescribed transverse carton partitions, in the setup condition of thecarton.

' A front wall panel 9 is conjoined along afold line e to the adjacentlongitudinal partition and bottom forming panel 6, and opposite the foldline e said panel 9 is conjoined along a plurality of spaced alignedfold lines to a partition panel In comprising a. plurality of swingablebifurcated individual transverse partitions i I. Each transversepartition H has a medially extending fold line or formed ,therein whichformsa line. of fold along which thepanel I I] may be medially foldedgageable in cuts 1-1 in bottom panels 66 in terminal strip I5 are thenrotatively biased toward each other and in a direction longitudinally ofthe slot, until neck 22 of the hook is substantially encompassed by theslot 5. This procedure is continued successively with each tongue andslot, as illustrated in Fig. 5, until an interlock is efiected betweeneach tongue and slot along the blank. The outwardly extending,overlapping noses 2I of hooks IT and the approximately equal width ofhook necks 22 and slots 5 make for a firm engagement of terminal stripI6 with rear said set-up condition. The medial cuts 8 receive the loweredge I3 of the partition connecting the When the individual hook-bearingportions. transverse partitions I I have'been folded down to theposition referred to, triangular gussets I2I 5 are defined adjacent eachupper edge of the. partition panel In, said gussets lying in 'ahorizontal plane, and, as previously pointed out, cover look-- ing hooks2 are engageable under gussets I2 when thercartonis erected and thecover 3 is rotated into covering position.

The present invention is concerned primarily with the provision of meansto secure the parts of the carton together, in a glueless manner, toenable the foregoing manipulations,"while at the same time assuring thatsaid carton-will maintain its form under all circumstances andreasonable conditions. of handling. To this end a terminal'retainingstrip or panel I5 is conjoined to transverse partition panel Ill alongspaced, aligned fold lines h. A plurality of hooks-or tongues H areformed integral with terminal strip I6, being cut out of the material ofpanel I inwardly of the fold lines hand the straight free edge ofterminal strip I6. As illustrated clearly in Figs. 3 and 5, hooks ortongues I! are preferably wider than they are long and, when rotatedinto operative position out ofthe plane of panel I0 yet coplanar withstrip I6, comprise a head having anarcuatefree end I8, one relativelystraight side edge I9, and an inwardly directed notch 20, the latterdefining in the space between it and arcuate edge I8 a pointed'noseor'protrusion 2I and, between its apex of indenta tion and side edge IS,a neck 22.

Hooks H are all disposed in-a common direction and new spaced alongterminal strip I6 that the edges defining the neck 22 of each hook liein transverse register with the ends. ofv a cut in rear panel i. Also,the width of the neck 22 closely approximates the width of each cut 5.Thus nose 2I overlaps one end of the related cut when the hooks I"! areinserted therein.

The carton blank shownin Fig. 1 is assembled, as shown in Fig. 5 bybending the blank back upon itself along fold line (Z so that rearwalll5 and the adjacent panel B overlie transverse partition panel I0,and coincidently bending transverse partition panel In along thepartition fold lines g upwardly and backwardly upon-itself, in thedirection of said rear wall 5, as wellasrotat-v ing terminal section I6and its integral hooks -I'I rearwardly and downwardly along fold lines huntil hooks I! are upstanding at approximately a right angle to thetransverse partition panel I0 and to rear wall panel 5. Next, beginningwith the hook I1 and the related orregistering slot 5 nearest the sideof the blank toward which the hook nose 2I points, the blank in generaland panel 4 in particular are biased transversely to such positionrelative to the hook that nose 2I of the latter passes through the, slotand one end of the slot is brought into contact with the adjacent edgeof notch 20. Wall panel 4 and wall 4, hooks I! then being in exteriorcoplanar contact with such rear wall and terminal strip I6.beinginteriorly coplanar therewith, as particularly shown in'Figs. 6 and '7.It is self evident that a blank of the character, described especially,is well adapted for assembly by automatic machinery.

This interlock of parts having been accomplished, the carton may befurther folded into completely flattened condition for shipment orstorage along fold lines d, g, as shown inFig. 6. When erected for useto the positionof Fig. 7, the engagement of the erect transversepartitions with the bottom section is attended by a wedging coaction of.said partitions with strip I6 and the bottom section which eifectivelyprevents the interconnected parts from becoming disconnected.

Although this invention is shown and described as applied to the Troyktype egg carton, its use is by no means restricted to use on that type;on the contrary, the invention lies primarily in the shape and relativeplacement and dimensioning of the above described novel locking elementswith respect to each other, without particular regard to the exact typeof carton embodying the invention. However, as, previously pointed out,when the structure herein disclosedis incorporated in a cellular cartonsuch as an egg carton, there is a tendency for the transversepartitions, when erected, to give support to the interconnected lockingmeans, additionally resisting disconnection of the interlocked parts;

I claim: a

l. .A cellular egg carton formed from a unitary blank and capable ofassembly without the use of adhesives, comprising, arear wall providedwith a row of elongated openings therein extending longitudinallythereof, a terminal strip defining one end of'the blank and extending inparallel relation to the rear wall, a plurality of tongues formedintegral with the terminal strip inwardly of the free edge thereof, saidterminal strip and integral tongues being disposed adjacent the rearwall, with the terminal strip extendmg in one direction and generallyabutting said rear wall interiorly of the carton and the tonguesextending in another direction through the wall openings, and generallyabutting the exterior of said rear wall.

2. A cellularcarton formed from a single blank ofpaperboard and capableof assembly without the use of adhesive, including panels definmg a rearwall, a bottom and longitudinal partition forming section. a front wall,a transverse partition forming section and a terminal section definingone end of the blank, said panels being foldable with respect to eachother along parallel fold lines, the rear wall being provided w1th a rowof alongated openings therein. between upper and lower margins thereofparallel tothe carton fold lines, a plurality of tongues formed integralwith the terminal section and being cut out from the material of thetrans.-

verse partition section, said terminal section being in abutment withthe inner surface of the rear wall, the tongues extending upwardlythrough the apertures in the rear wall and frictionally engaging theexterior surface of the rear wall. 7

3. A cellular egg carton formed from a unitary blank without the use ofadhesive, including a rear wall provided with a row of elongatedopenings between upper and lower margins thereof, which row extendslongitudinally in the direction of the length of said openings, abottom, a longitudinal partition, a front wall, a transverse partitionsection from which are cut out a plurality of transverse partitionsfoldable from coplanar horizontal to spaced vertical positions and whenso folded having means associated therewith to prevent downwarddisplacement thereof, a terminal strip having as many tongues as thereare openings in the rear wall formed integral therewith, opposite thefree end thereof, the free end of the terminal strip extendingdownwardly in abutment with the inner surface of the rear wall, thetongues extending upwardly through the openings in said wall intoabutment with the outer surface of the rear wall, said first named meansacting to prevent dislodgement of the tongues from the apertures.

4. A unitary paperboard blank capable of assembly without adhesives intoan egg carton, 2)

comprising, plural carton forming panels foldable with respect to oneanother along transversely extending fold lines, including a transversepartition forming panel and a rear wall panel, the latter having aseries of aligned elon gated openings formed therein in a row extendingparallel to the fold lines, and a terminal panel defining one end of theblank at least said partition forming panel from said rear wall panel,said terminal panel having a series of hooks formed integral therewith,said hooks being cut out of the material of the transverse partitionforming panel, there being as many openings in said rear wall panel asthere are hooks on said terminal panel and the necks of said hooksgenerally corresponding in width to the length of said openings.

MAR'I'IN BURGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 927,488 Carter July 13, 19091,866,317 Miner July 5, 1932 1,954,595 Levine Apr. 10, 1934 2,100,711Drake Nov. 30, 1937 2,101,303 Williamson Dec. 7, 1937 2,389,222 WalshNov. 20, 1945

